5 Full Days of Celebration

by tinareale on December 26, 2012

And just like that, another Christmas has come and gone.

After spending the past five days celebrating in various ways, the alarm this morning felt rather surreal. I can hardly believe it is all over and its time to get back to normal, everyday living. That doesn’t mean I can’t extend Christmas just a wee bit longer, though, by remembering the festivities today (then possibly having a special gift for you all tomorrow).

We started celebrating the merriment this past Friday night with a holiday party with our friends. We all gathered together to share some sweet & salty dishes plus have a little fun with a White Elephant gift exchange. Gosh, I always love those types of parties!

I brought a couple books I had already read plus a couple extra bags of Love Grown granola to share since I always like to spread the love. I think my gift was well received. As was all the delicious food! I enjoyed a couple mini sweet potato and black bean burgers alongside some pita chips and hummus to start, then definitely sampled the desserts of all shapes and sizes.

We had a fabulous time to kick off our holiday festivities, which all continued into the weekend when we celebrated Christmas with Peter’s family on Sunday afternoon after church.

I have to say, I feel very appreciative for his mother’s decision to celebrate on a different day to allow us all more time on Christmas day for other places to visit. Typically, we would make the stop here last and feel rushed and have to deal with exhausted kids just ready to go home. This time though, we could really spend time with family and enjoy the day together. We did so in the usual Italian style – packed rooms, lots of conversation, family joking and heckling, and the traditional feast of ravioli, sausage, and meatballs.

It may not be my personal favorite, but I think the kids like it. What do you think? Ha! I also know I still quite enjoyed the meal for the time together. Plus, I always have room for the numerous cookies that come with the day. You better believe I had myself more than a couple from the cookie platters…which somehow I never got a picture of them. I guess I was too busy taste testing the different kinds. Whoops? Nah!

Eventually, we did gifts with his family and then had to make our way home for bedtime for the kids. What a long, busy day but the fun was only just beginning as we welcomed my family into our home on Christmas Eve. We pretty much lounged around most of Christmas Eve afternoon, laughing and sharing memories over a glass of red wine and some of my Tortellini Soup for dinner.

I couldn’t have asked for a better evening…unless of course if Heather and Tim were able to be there (my sister and her fiancé). It’s okay – they came for the big stuff the following morning. I have to say that seeing the delight on the kids’ faces as they come around the corner Christmas morning never fails to make my heart swell with my own overflowing happiness. Although probably not as much happiness as when they get more excited over the fact it is for Jesus’ birthday.

Their gifts were well received – Makenzie got “all things Hello Kitty!!!” just as she asked and Braedon loved his new Mickey Mouse toys.

That dancing Mickey came from my uncle and was such a huge hit. I think the breakdancing Mickey (yes, breakdancing Mickey) is really cool right now but we’ll see how I feel after hearing him dance and sing for the next week straight. At least he doesn’t sing “hot dog hot dog hot diggity dog”. You moms know what I’m talking about no doubt.

Moving on. Even after all that fun, we still weren’t done. One last special place to visit – my G-Pa’s for Christmas lunch with my dad’s side of the family.

Once again, it felt great to really have time to spend with all of my cousins, aunts, and uncles instead of having to rush from one place to the next. Just as to be expected, our time here included even more reminiscing, laughter, catching up, food, and more wine.

We left late that afternoon officially full – of good food…and also love and cheer. I hope for all who celebrated that yours was just the same. Now time to get back to reality! Have a great day!

Your Turn: What was the best part of your celebrations of any of your holiday fun (no matter what you celebrate)?

Looks like you guys had quite the busy and FUN weekend! We had Christmas Eve with my mom’s extended family at our house for the first time this year since it’s impossible for my grandma to host anymore. It was fun and there was Glugg to be had which was even better!

My daughter asked for the same thing – everything had Hello Kitty in front of it. Even a Hello Kitty surfboard. I didn’t check to see if they make those but I’m sure they do! Christmas morning was the best. Seeing their little faces light up – magic!

What a fun weekend! Yours looks very much like our usual holiday- several days of hopping from party to party and seeing both sides of the family. This year, we stayed home since we had just flown home for Thanksgiving, and a quiet Christmas was a treat, too. Much more restful then usual, and very sweet to see L so excited about the special day!

Glad you had such a good time with your family! I heard some people commenting about how tired they were and ready for Christmas to be over…our holidays are always packed with places to go, but to me that means we are more than blessed with family to love! Happy New Year

My favorite part about the holidays is getting together with family. We rarely are all together at the same time so it’s nice. I also love the decorations and holiday cheer! Fortunately I don’t have to get back to reality until next Wednesday. I’m sure that’s going to be a big shock for me.

What a fabulous extended Christmas celebration! I love that your kids get excited about it being Jesus’ birthday — that is just too wonderful. As far as my Christmas celebration goes, the best part is definitely being together with the whole family. I only have three cousins, and the six of us (me + 2 siblings + 3 cousins) are all really close. My oldest cousin is a lot like a big brother to me (bullying and all, even though we’re 22 and 24 now ), but I rarely get to see him because he’s lived all over the country/world since he graduated from college. The family reunion that comes with Christmas is definitely my favorite part

Looks like a great few days! Best part is the kids, loved how much my little niece was in to it this year. Today was great, a second more relaxed family meal followed by an afternoon of playdough and cookie making!

Looks like an awesome holiday, my friend! Similar to mine in that celebrating was drawn out more, so we had more time with each family, which is always such fun. LOVE the pics of the kids getting their gifts!

It does seem a shame that it comes and goes so quickly, but to be honest, I’d been slacking with my routines because of it, so I’m somewhat glad to get back to doing stuff!

It looks like you had an awesome Christmas, the photos of food and family cheer sure seem to show it. The anecdote of your kids coming down on Christmas morn is likely one of the most heart-warming things I’ve read!

The best part for me has to be the food and the family coming together, it’s something to look forward to all year

I loved giving the presents and seeing peoples’ reactions. It warms your heart. I think that’s great that you could split up the holiday visits- sometimes it can take away some of the fun of Christmas when you’re rushing the whole day.